Symbols supporting
inclusion in mainstream
education
Published by
Widgit Software
124 Cambridge Science Park
Milton Road
Cambridge
CB4 0ZS
tel: +44(0) 1223 425558
fax: +44(0) 1223 425349
email: [email protected]
web: www.widgit.com
© Widgit Software 2005
Other Useful References
Symbols Inclusion Project (SIP) www.widgit.com/SIP
Downloadable symbol resources www.widgit.com/resources
SIP team email [email protected]
Symbols supporting inclusion in mainstream education
The Warwickshire Symbols Inclusion Project. (SIP)
In January 2003, Warwickshire Education
Authority and Widgit Software began a six
month project to study the impact of using
symbols to help enable inclusion in a number of
primary schools in Warwickshire.
Warwickshire DISCS (Disability Inclusion
Sensory and Communication Service) provided
an experienced teaching assistant for four days
a week and an experienced classroom teacher
for two days a week to work in Widgit’s office to
prepare materials for trial in the pilot schools.
Widgit Software provided the technical help and
a full-time graphic artist to support the work of
the teachers.
Such was the success of this pilot that the
Education Authority and Widgit
agreed to
provide these resources for a further three years
and that the materials created would be
distributed throughout the Authority schools.
These resources are now available free or as
low cost downloads for anyone else to use. The
files are mostly for Widgit’s ‘Communicate: In
Print’ program or as PDF files which do not need
specific software to use.
This pamphlet gives a brief account of some of
the individual successes of the project in order to
give a flavour of the work and how it was used.
The names of the children have been changed.
Each page gives a description either of the work
of an individual student, or of the experiences of
a particular teacher.
Writing using the vocabulary symbol list.
Pupils really enjoyed using the list to spell
all the tricky words, enabling them to
produce work independently.
They used larger pictures to sequence
and use for spelling.
Some of the key advantages that are evident
from these stories are: improving behaviour and
motivation, creating greater independence and
giving access to the the curriculum and learning.
It is often difficult to separate these strands as
they are necessarily related. Most significantly
these strategies enable students to demonstrate
what they know. As one child asked, “I can’t
think of the word. Can I draw the picture?”
For more information, email [email protected]
The display supports the topic and
reinforces the vocabulary.
Motivation and Behaviour
We use text for assisting in the delivery
of major sections of the curriculum.
Those students who have difficulty with
text will frequently find frustration in
handling many aspects of school life,
from surviving in the general school
environment, through literacy work, to
understanding written instructions and
worksheets for the curriculum.
If we can separate out literacy problems
from other tasks then we can reduce the
measure of frustration very significantly.
There are many cases, other than the
descriptions here, where teachers have
seen much greater motivation through
the use of symbols.
Clearly not all cases of poor behaviour will be helped by increasing motivation and involvement
through symbol support, but for many students it empowers them to become learners.
Symbols have also been shown to have a role in managing behaviour by creating more
effective ways of communicating with students. Many are not able to understand or remember
verbal instructions and information. Holding up a symbol card to reinforce a spoken instruction
or request, can help a student fully understand what behaviour is required.
Symbols can give these children a voice to express themselves when words fail them.
Learning and Curriculum
By illustrating words, symbols can help a
student to learn and recall information. This is
particularly true for those students who operate
more visually and whose visual memory may
help to recall facts. It is also true that symbols
can help to remind students of a concept. The
symbol itself cannot teach the concept, but
once a concept has been understood, symbols
can reinforce that understanding and help
make the comprehension more permanent.
For example, we have developed many
Science symbols where the images can help
students to recall the meaning of the concept,
even though they may be perfectly capable of
reading the word. Even difficult concepts, such
as voltage (the push sending the current round
a circuit) and the current (the flow that results)
can be well illustrated with symbols.
Self Study
Self study is an important aspect of learning. Many students who have literacy problems find
research difficult. Often reference books have too much text or the layouts are too busy. These
students may be able to handle ideas and information if they have to help understand the
words and their meanings. For example we have produced a variety of History books about the
Romans and Greeks. There are a number of topics covered in each set and each topic book
has been made at five levels. These range from books with a picture and simple text
information, a text level with support for key words and new vocabulary, through levels of
symbol support, to books with just a single illustrative symbol per page. In this situation, the
symbols help differentiate curriculum access.
Independence
In the classroom, we need to give students as much independence as we can. This is
psychologically important for the student as well as purely practical for the teacher. Students
with literacy difficulties may also have difficulties in retaining verbal information. So we really
need ways of providing printed information in a way that students can understand. Symbols
supported worksheets and visual timetables etc. can greatly help provide information in this
form.
Learning to Read
Some students may never gain full functional mastery of text. For such students, symbols can
be a lifeline. But the question exists whether a wider range of students can be helped with
learning to read without forming any dependency on the images.
In the SIP project, there has been a focus on supporting early readers. Some students struggle
to learn the first 45 high frequency words and schools often have limited material with this
vocabulary. The Zed books use symbol support to aid word recognition as well as providing
visually stimulating graphics. The books cover topics about real life experiences and students
are motivated by the characters. Students begin to see themselves as ‘readers’ which
improves self esteem and their ability to learn.
In the software that Widgit produces, it has always been possible to change the level of symbol
support so that reliance on any visual clues can be removed if it is no longer needed.
The Zed books are provided in two levels. Set A has all the words supported, but Set B has the
target words as text only. Set A may help in learning the vocabulary, and Set B in reading the
text. The advantage of using symbols is that the books can cover more imaginative material.
There are also two advantages of having the book electronically. First, small books can be
printed for each pupil to read, take home and record progress. The second is that the books
can be edited, for example by removing the target words completely for the pupil to hand-write
in, removing all the text for a new sentence to be composed or by removing the pictures
allowing the pupil to draw their own.
Summary
The process of inclusion brings its own challenges. Students may have various degrees of
learning and communication difficulties or may not have English as their first language. The
experience in Warwickshire has shown that through using symbols in the curriculum, and more
generally in the environment around school, that many students feel more secure and have
enhanced learning outcomes. The following pages give five examples from schools in
Warwickshire that illustrate some of the value of symbols for specific children.
1. Improving behaviour
David was in Year 3 (7-8 year olds) with learning levels of a Y1 pupil working at Level 1
of the National Curriculum. His language and communication skills were very poor and
he found it difficult to express his ideas. David also had a weak auditory memory. He
was not able to access the Y3 Curriculum without considerable differentiation of the
material.
David had good visual skills as a learner and responded well to symbols and photos. He had
initial sound recognition and the combination of this and the symbol helped him to work out the
word and its meaning.
Staff used the symbol-supported calendar with him every day. By crossing off each day when it
had passed he was able to work out what the day was. He could not have done this without
the symbols for the days and months.
The photos show David writing independently using symbol word grids made in ‘Communicate:
In Print’. The key vocabulary was put into the grids in the sequential order of the story, ‘The
Tiny Seed’ by Eric Carle. The teacher first read through the story making sure that David found
the key vocabulary on his grid. The task was to retell his favourite part of the story. David did
this by using the symbols as a visual prompt to remember the story and then by copying the
word underneath the appropriate symbol. The teacher supported him in formulating each
sentence and rehearsing it verbally before he tried to write it.
David‘s writing target, to put a capital letter at the beginning of a sentence and a full stop at the
end, was also symbolised so it could be referred to and he could see it – another visual
prompt.
David saw himself as a ‘writer’ in this session which greatly boosted his self-esteem. His
behaviour in unsupported writing sessions when the material was not accessible for him was
very different. He shouted out, distracted other pupils and was generally disruptive.
2. Increasing independence
Anna is a Year 6 child who has attended a speech and language base for over 5 years.
She has a severe expressive speech and language disorder and poor reading and
recording skills. Her comprehension level is above these other skills. Anna tends to get
very frustrated with herself when she cannot find the words she wants or write her
ideas down. She often gives up and does not volunteer answers in class.
We first used the ‘Writing with Symbols’ program with Anna to make simple reading books and
to help her record basic sentences. It made such a difference - suddenly, she could read word
for word instead of guessing and could access a wordlist to record independently. We also
supported her expressive language with cue cards. Anna finds it very hard to formulate a
sentence with the words in the correct order which makes it hard for her to communicate with
others. She needs thinking time and lots of visual prompting and encouragement. We made
question cards she could use to ask questions e.g. “What do you like?” “When is your
birthday?” We colour-coded words to remind her to use subject/verb/object etc. and Anna is
very good at remembering the colours of each part of speech and to start with “Who” when it
was needed. Then we found we could make her cue cards so she could speak in Assembly
and at Christmas productions (provided we limited the language). She was proud of herself
and her parents were impressed as well.
We used a visual timetable to help Anna
remember where she had to be and what was
happening each day. She took to this very well,
knew if there were to be any changes and
sorted these out herself. This also helped other
children in her group.
We have extended this support through the
use of symbols to other subjects such as
Science, History and Geography. Anna really
enjoys these subjects, but it was hard for her to
contribute without 1-1 support. Now she has
some level of independence through using
History books and wordlists, Science recording
sheets and prepared differentiated work. We have even prepared songs and carols for her to
take home and practice. This has helped her to become part of the class and join in with class
activities.
Anna uses the WWS program herself to have a go at spelling, writing sentences, poems and
stories, and checking vocabulary. She really enjoys this and is becoming quicker at typing in
words. She is pleased with the results and likes to print off her work to take home or to show
the class.
‘Writing with Symbols’ has really helped Anna to achieve in areas where she was having great
difficulty. She is a very visual learner and this support has benefited her immensely. Her selfesteem has been raised, as has her success in class.
3. Learning
An investigation into the value of symbols in vocabulary acquisition.
Stockingford Infants School use symbols in the school to support communication
friendly environments. The teacher, Dena, wanted to evaluate the use of symbols in
learning.
As part of a post-graduate study, she observed three students with communication difficulties
over an 8 week period in a project to evaluate the role of symbols in acquiring sight
vocabulary.
The pupils all aged about five had difficulty in reading the first 45 Reception High Frequency
words. In the weekly sessions, Dena used flash cards with the words, and with the words plus
symbol, in a number of games and activities during the period of the intervention. She used
the vocabulary both in isolation and in connection with reading books. All three pupils made
significant gains during the intervention, but the most remarkable gains were by the child with
the most severe reading difficulties.
Clearly these gains could not be attributed solely to the intervention and to the use of symbols.
There are many other possible influencing factors, “Nevertheless, there are some observations
that do suggest that the use of symbols may have had a positive impact.”
The indicators she cites are, that as well as recognising the words, they understand the
meanings of words such as they/he/she which they were not yet using correctly in their
spontaneous spoken language. When reading from the text alone they could read repeated
phrases but did not always do so from word to word. However, when the symbols were present
they were seen to consistently point from symbol to symbol as they read.
She also reported that the children showed a positive attitude to the activities involving
symbols and approached the tasks with enthusiasm. “Symbols also allowed a child with very
limited level of literacy skill to take part meaningfully in activities with his higher attaining
peers.”
Some proponents of the use of symbols in
early literacy intervention indicate a
concern that children could become
‘dependent’ on the symbols and that they
should be phased out as soon as
possible. Dena, however, challenges this.
Although in the reading activities the
children were encouraged to read the
words without symbols, she feels that
such a categorical statement appears
unduly prescriptive. She believes that
symbols contribute to an inclusive
strategy, supporting visual learners by
giving access to reading and information
while learning to read the printed word.
4. Motivation
Telling the story. Use of symbols and gesture to support science, a teacher from
Weddington Primary School reports.
In Year 5, we have been studying the topic ‘Earth, Sun and Moon’. I developed a set of
symbolised materials and key topic words using ‘Communicate: In Print’. The teaching
sessions have been visual and multi-sensory. The children were very enthusiastic. The impact
of these methods certainly worked with one very visual child. His class teacher reported that in
an unsupported class revision lesson this child had his hand up to answer all of the questions
and his answers proved that he had learned as much, if not more, than some of his peers. The
gains are not only in knowledge but also in raised self esteem that comes with genuine praise
in front of peers and the feeling that “I know”
I used similar materials and methods with the current Year 6 children last year when they were
in Year 5. Tests to advise revision topics have revealed that one particular child has retained
lots of the information covered in Y5. For a child who is not particularly motivated in other
lessons, and does not succeed at the same level as his peers, this is a real success.
The inclusion of symbols supports multi-sensory teaching. One of the children I am currently
working with is a very visual child. He finds explaining himself and remembering words very
difficult. However, symbols seem to prove the link that stimulates the recall of language. When
seeing the symbol I used for instructions, he was immediately able to recall the words and their
correct order.
5. Curriculum involvement
In Clapham Terrace School, they are using the ‘Roman’ books. The teacher introduced
the symbol versions of the books to two children, a boy, who was very difficult to
motivate and a girl who was Portuguese with huge gaps in English vocabulary.
I worked with these two students over a three week period, with two sessions a week. I started
by asking them both what they knew about the Romans so that we could refer back to that
later. The boy had some understanding of the Romans, but the girl did not.
The boy lacks understanding of concepts but loves books. He loved the symbol book. Pauline
writes: “I read the first page, then he wanted to read the rest. When I paused to check the
vocabulary, he impatiently said ‘Let’s get on. I want to read this bit’”. He loved the pictures and
really enjoyed telling us what he knew about them. The girl was also engaged in reading the
books for a long time and the symbols helped her to join in with the reading. She most enjoyed
looking at the pictures as I introduced the vocabulary and was willing to talk about them. She
was less keen on reading.
In the second session that week both children showed continued interest, and remembered a
few of the new terms introduced. In this session they used the flash cards to identify specific
vocabulary and discuss the meanings.
By the second week, both children had a good recall of vocabulary and good attention to the
tasks. They both made a big effort to recall the labels from last time. The specific vocabulary
they could recall was Rome, Emperor, sword, shield, aqueduct, legion and the purpose of
turtle formation.
By the end of the second week they were able to read
from the symbol supported books. These books have
symbol/pictures linked to the new and difficult vocabulary.
It was clear that the symbols helped them to remember
and understand the concepts.
In the third week, we introduced a ‘Pairs’ game using the
flash cards. The game was very successful. Before we
started we looked at the cards to discuss content. They
were very keen to play the game and it encouraged more
discussion as we went along.
The symbols provided clear motivation and helped with
understanding the vocabulary and meanings of terms.
Two other children, who hadn’t seen the books before,
were able to read a lot of the symbol supported text
independently.
Symbols Inclusion Project Resource Packs
Curriculum resource packs
downloadable from www.widgit.com/resources
The materials developed under the SIP project are available as FREE or low-cost downloads.
There are resources for many areas of the curriculum as well as cross-curricular packs and
topical packs for different seasons.
The packs will typically have between 10 and 20 activities and reading books which can be
printed from Communicate: In Print.
Widgit Software,
124 Cambridge Science Park, Milton Road,
Cambridge, CB4 0ZS, UK
tel: +44(0) 1223 425558
fax: +44(0) 1223 425349
email: [email protected]
web: www.widgit.com